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Tourism and hotels in Colombia: who is a tourism provider, the national tourism register, the FONTUR parafiscal contribution and hotel rules

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Stable

Hotels, short stay housing, travel agencies, tour operators, convention organizers, tourist car rentals, timeshare promoters, tourist restaurants and bars and other listed businesses are tourism service providers in Colombia, and each must be in the Registro Nacional de Turismo (RNT), kept by the chambers of commerce, before operating and update it every year. Providers and businesses that benefit from tourism, including airport and road concessionaires, passenger airlines and transport companies, travel insurers and convention centres, pay a parafiscal contribution to the Fondo Nacional de Turismo of 2.5 per 1,000 of operating income (1.5 per 1,000 for tourist bars and restaurants, US$1 per international passenger for airlines), which cannot be passed on to customers. Operating without an active registration leads to sanctions by the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio and temporary closure, and reactivating a suspended registration costs one monthly minimum wage.

USD figures use the TRM (tasa representativa del mercado) of COP 3,157.94 per US dollar, valid 27 October 2026, from the official TRM series published by the Superintendencia Financiera on the national open data portal. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Tourism parafiscal contribution, per 1,000 of operating income	2.5 per milLey 2068 de 2020 art. 36 (Ley 2294 de 2023 art. 304), as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Tourism parafiscal contribution for tourist bars and restaurants, per 1,000 of operating income	1.5 per milLey 2068 de 2020 art. 36 par. 2, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Tourism contribution per international passenger for regular airlines	1 USDLey 2068 de 2020 art. 36 par. 1, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Fee to reactivate a suspended tourism registration	1 monthly minimum wagesLey 300 de 1996 art. 61 par. 6, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. Tourism service providers include hotels, holiday centres, camps, tourist housing and other non permanent lodging (excluding hourly lodging); travel, wholesale and operator agencies; tourism representation offices; tour guides; professional congress, fair and convention organizers; tourist vehicle rental companies; operators, developers and industrial users of tourism free trade zones; timeshare and multiproperty promoters; tourist restaurants and bars; travel savings and prepaid tourism companies; park tourism concessionaires; specialized tourist land transport companies; and others the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism names.Ley 300 de 1996, Ley General de Turismo, art. 62 as amended by Decreto Ley 2106 de 2019 art. 145, Art. 62, 1996-07-30 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. All tourism service providers must register in the Registro Nacional de Turismo, which the Ministry delegates to the chambers of commerce; registration is a prior and mandatory condition for operating. Registrations not updated yearly within the regulated dates are automatically suspended and the provider may not operate while suspended. The Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio sanctions unregistered providers and asks mayors to close establishments temporarily until they register or update; to reactivate a registration the provider must pay one legal monthly minimum wage to the Fondo Nacional de Turismo.
Cost to do it: Reactivating a suspended registration costs one monthly minimum wage, COP 1,750,905 in 2026.
Example: About US$554.Ley 300 de 1996, art. 61 as amended by Decreto Ley 2106 de 2019 art. 142; art. 77, Art. 61 par. 1 to 6; art. 77 num. 1 and 6, 1996-07-30 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. A parafiscal contribution funds tourism promotion, sustainability and competitiveness and may never be passed on to the user. The taxable event is providing tourism services or carrying out activities that benefit from tourism; the Fondo Nacional de Turismo collects it, the Ministry sets the filing and payment procedure and the Estatuto Tributario fills gaps and supplies the sanctions regime.Ley 300 de 1996, art. 40 as amended by Ley 2068 de 2020 art. 34, Art. 40, 2020-12-31 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. Contributors are national or foreign individuals and companies, domiciled or not, that are tourism service providers (except tour guides), and owners or operators of businesses that benefit from tourism, including therapeutic spas, adventure tourism operators, airport and road concessionaires, air and land passenger carriers (except urban and metropolitan transport), convention centres, travel insurers, travel medical assistance companies, tourist docks, marinas and cruise terminals, and shops in passenger terminals. Renting or subletting property for periods under 30 days counts as providing tourist housing.Ley 1101 de 2006, art. 3 as amended by Ley 2068 de 2020 art. 37, Art. 3 and par. 1, 2020-12-31 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. The contribution is 2.5 per 1,000 of operating income linked to the taxed activity; tourist bars and restaurants pay 1.5 per 1,000, and regular passenger airlines pay US$1 per passenger on international flights starting or ending in Colombia, outside the authorized fare. Commission based providers pay on commissions received, inbound and wholesale operators on income net of payments to tourism suppliers, and airport and road concessionaires on income from passengers.
Cost to do it: 2.5 per 1,000 of operating income (1.5 per 1,000 for tourist bars and restaurants).
Example: A hotel with COP 2,000,000,000 of operating income pays COP 5,000,000 a year; a tourist restaurant with the same income pays COP 3,000,000. / About US$1,583 and US$950 on about US$633,324 of income.Ley 2068 de 2020, art. 36 as amended by Ley 2294 de 2023 art. 304; Ley 300 de 1996 art. 41 as amended by Ley 2068 de 2020 art. 35, Ley 2068 art. 36 and par. 1 and 2; Ley 300 art. 41 num. 1 to 3, 2023-05-19 official text · verified 2026-10-27

6. A hotel or lodging establishment is the set of assets a person uses to provide non permanent lodging for less than 30 days, with or without food and basic or complementary services, under a lodging contract.Ley 300 de 1996, Art. 78, 1996-07-30 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Step by step

Check whether your activity is on the list of tourism providers or of businesses that benefit from tourism.
Register in the RNT at the chamber of commerce before opening, and diary the annual update.
File and pay the parafiscal contribution on operating income linked to the tourism activity under the Ministry's procedure; it cannot be added to customer bills.
For hotels and ecotourism projects, review the reduced income tax rate on the tax incentives page before investing.

Common traps

Missing the annual RNT update suspends the registration automatically and the business may not operate until reactivated, which costs a minimum wage.
Foreign providers without a Colombian domicile are also contributors.
Renting property for under 30 days is tourist housing, with the same registration and contribution duties.

Sources

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